Water, Water (Not) Everywhere

I’ve spent a lot of time in a lot of places where locals don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water. And I’ve spent even more time in hotels where  bottled water is imported at great environmental cost and sold to guests for a king’s ransom. So when I learned about an organization called Whole World Water recently at a friend’s dinner party (I happened to ask the co-founder to pass the water, wouldn’t you know), it was kind of a Eureka moment.

In a nutshell, Whole World Water helps member hotels filter and bottle their own water, so they can sell it to guests, and contribute 10% of the proceeds to the Whole World Water Fund, which in turn, supports a variety of initiatives and projects aimed at providing clean drinking water to those who don’t have it. Shipping costs (and commensurate carbon emissions) are reduced, plastic waste is eliminated (Whole World Water provides stylish glass bottles), and more people in the world gain access to healthy drinking water.

Is there a downside? Well, if you like having the option to chose between Perrier and San Pellegrino while you survey the ruins of Machu Picchu I guess this campaign might cramp your style a little. But isn’t that sacrifice just a drop in the bucket when you measure it against the wave of positive impact Whole World Water stands to make?

Charlie avoids bottled water at all cost. It makes him cringe to see so many plastic bottles littering the planet. No, he’s not holier than thou, he just thinks tap water makes a lot more sense.